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UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

PHILIP H. MANDEL, OF BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS, ASSIGNOR TO HARVEY K.FLAGLER, OF SAME PLACE.

PROCESS OF PRODUCING PLATE-PRINTING SURFACES.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 229,435, dated June 29,1880.

Application filed April 7, 1880. (Specimens.)

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, PHILIP HENRY MAN- DEL, of Boston, in thecounty ofSuffolk and State of Massachusetts, have invented an Improved Processfor Producing Letters, Figures, or Designs upon Metallic Surfaces forPlate-Printin g, and upon other materials, such as stone, glass, &;c.,for printing and various other purposes; and I do hereby declare that [Othe following is a full, clear, and exact description of the invention,which will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains tomake and use the same.

Printing-surfaces have been produced by 1 etching figures or designstransferred from photographs to a metallic surface in a Wellknownmanner, the ink forming the design resisting the action of the acidemployed in the etching process, which eats away the surrounding metal,leaving the design in high relief. Printing surfaces produced in thismanner answer for block-printing, but cannot be employed for plateprinting, which requires a sunken or intaglio design, to produce whichby 2 5 the etching process necessitated the covering of the metalsurface with an etching-ground and the subsequent production of thedesign by drawing it by hand with an etching point or needle, whichleaves the metal exposed to the action of the acid wherever the etchingground has been scratched away by the point of the needle. Thishand-etchin g process,which is employed extensively in engraving coppercylinders used for calico-printing and for other purposes, isexceedingly slow, tedious, and expensive, and it has hitherto been foundimpossible to employ a photographic or other transfer in the process ofproducing an etched intaglio design, for the reason that the ink formingthe design effectually prevented the acid from acting upon the veryportion of the metal which would require to be eaten away to produce asunken figure. I

To produce upon a metallic or other surface an etched design transferredthereon from a photograph, print, or impressiona desideratum heretoforeunattainedis the obj ect of my invention, which consists in producingupon a metallic or other surface the required figure or 50 design bytransferring the same from a photograph, print, or impression, and thenapplying an etching-ground form ed of a composition which will notadhere to the ink of the transferred impression, but only to theuncovered surface, and which will resist the action of the fluid withwhich the ink is subsequently washed off, this removal of the inkcausing the surface hitherto covered thereby to form the design, thelines or edges of which are defined by the surrounding or adjacentetching-ground, so that when the surface is subjected to the acid thedesign itself will be attacked by the acid, and thus produced inintaglio, as desired, whereby a perfect plate for plate-printing, orother surface having an etched intaglio design thereon, can be easilyand rapidly produced from a photographic or other transfer, thuseffecting a great saving in time and labor, as the etching by hand,hitherto unavoidable, is entirely dispensed with. 7

To carry my invention into effect I first photograph the requireddesign, figure, or character upon paper, and then transfer the same byany well-known photo-mechanical process to the metal surface to be usedfor printing, or- 7 5 transfer the design from a print or impression byany known process. I then apply to this metallic surface and smoothlydistribute thereover an etching ground composed of three drams ofshellac dissolved in five ounces of alcohol. The nature of thiscomposition is such that it will not remain upon the surface of the ink,and will only adhere to the exposed surface of the metal not covered bythe ink. 0onsequently the ink which forms the design is left entirelyuncovered and in the same condition as when originally applied. Thedesign is then washed oif with turpentine or benzine, which does notaffect or remove any portion of the etching-ground,the ingredients ofwhich render it capable of resisting the action of the turpentine orbenzine used to remove the ink from the plate. This washing off of theink causes the surface hitherto covered thereby to form the designitself, the lines or edges of which are clearly defined by thesurrounding or adj acent etchingground. The metallic surface thusprepared is now subjected to the action of acid reduced with water tothe proper strength, as in the ordinary etching process,

when that portion of the metallic surface from which the ink has beenremoved, and which now forms the design itself, is attacked by the acid,which is allowed to corrode or eat away the metal to the desired depth,as in the ordinary etching process, when the plate is removed,thoroughly washed with water, and dried, after which it is ready for useto print from in the ordinary process of plate-priming.

A perfect intaglio copy of a design or figure can thus be produced upona plate or metallic surface from a photograph or other transferin anexceedingly expeditious and economical manner, thus effecting an immensesaving in time and labor.

The above-described process can be applied with great advantage to theengraving of copper cylinders for calico-printing, which can thus beproduced at a greatly reduced cost; and my invention can also beadvantageously employed for producing surfaces from which to printletters, designs, and figures in white upon a dark ground, and forplates to print transfers for decorating porcelain, 8:0.

I do not, however, confine or limit my invention to the production ofmetallic printingsurfaces, as it may be employed in producing designs,letters, &c., upon stone surfaces for printing, or upon stone, glass,850., for ornamental and a variety of other purposes.

What I claim as my invention, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

The process of producing etched designs, letters, or figures uponmetallic and other surfaces for plate-printing and other purposes, whichconsists in producing upon a metallic or other surface the requiredfigure or design by transferring the same from a photograph, print, orimpression in any suitable manner, then applying an etching-ground whichwill not adhere to the ink and will resist the action of the fluid withwhich the ink is subsequently washed off, and after the ink has beenremoved subjecting the exposed surface of the metal previously coveredthereby to the action of acid, so as to produce the design in intaglio,substantially as set forth.

Witness my hand this 2d day of April, A. D. 1880.

PHILIP HENRY MANDEL.

In presence of- P. E. TESCHEMAGHER, W. J. CAMBRIDGE.

